How Will I Decide How to Cast My Presedential Vote?
I am not an expert on political matters, but I have the responsibility and assignment to help my church and community think and act biblically in their civic duties. So, this brief article describes how I sit down with my Bible in one hand and the newspaper (or the internet) in the other and make important decisions about how I will vote in upcoming elections. I’m not looking to start a debate. I’m not trying to pick a fight. The words I share in this article are MY views. I believe them to be carefully considered Bible-based views, but they are mine. If you disagree, open your Bible and craft your own argument. The most important thing every Christian can do is to seek to honor the Lord with his or her submission and allegiance to God’s word and how God says we can best be ambassadors for Christ as we live as strangers and exiles in today’s world. The first order of business here is this: I won’t tell you who to vote for! My reluctance to tell you who to vote for is not motivated by fear of reprisal or government restrictions on pastors or churches. Before this article ends, I will make many politically incorrect statements, and I’ll clearly tell you who I plan to vote for in the upcoming presidential election. My reluctance is connected with my purpose. I don’t want to simply use some influence I might have to push you to a particular candidate or position. I’m a Bible teacher. I want to teach you how to take the Bible and ferret out answers about not only the upcoming election but future opportunities to vote for candidates and issues. I’m going to attempt to answer all of the following questions briefly… Let’s begin. Should Christians Get Involved in Politics? The simple answer is YES. However, there is more to this issue than that simple answer. First, Christians must keep the main thing, the main thing. We do not live for a political party or even the US Constitution or Declaration of Independence. We may (and I do) love the American flag, but we live for the glory of God, and we live to herald the gospel of Christ! Anything that hinders or distracts from the main thing, is a sinful thing. The Bible calls us strangers and exiles in this world. It reminds us that our true citizenship is in heaven. And it declares and proclaims that Christ is our only hope. The limitations of this brief article preclude a detailed analysis. Still, it sure seems that Jesus and the Apostles were so occupied with spiritual things that they gave little or no attention to the political matters of their day. Christians in the first and second centuries lived under much greater governmental oppression, persecution, injustice, and inequality than anything we experience in the United States today. Yet, in that political environment, Jesus, Paul, James, John, and Peter were basically silent on political matters. Some readers might point to John the Baptist confronting King Herod. John did confront Herod, but if you read closely, the confrontation was not political. John confronted Herod over his sexual sin. That confrontation was moral, biblical, and spiritual. Further, some readers will point out that Jesus commanded Christians to be the salt of the earth and the light of the world. He did, but those commands have often been badly misinterpreted and misapplied. I’ve written a lengthy article about the proper interpretation of this passage, but suffice it to say here that these commands are about righteous living, not political influence. Other readers will point out that perhaps Christian leaders in the first-century church did not seek to assert political influence because the system of government in their day did not allow the average citizen to affect policy. There could be something to that argument. However, at best, that argument only eliminates restrictions on political engagement; it does not endorse engagement. For me, three arguments provide the best support for a Christian’s political involvement. First, often, what the world calls political issues, the Bible calls spiritual issues. I have not veered into politics when I preach on subjects such as the sanctity of life and the composition of marriage and the family. If anything, politics have veered into the Bible! Much of a Christian’s political engagement is not motivated by opinions and convictions about public policy, but rather by Christians standing up for the clear teachings of Scripture! Christians must stand on and for the word of God. And in today’s modern political environment, that means political involvement and purpose-driven voting. Secondly, we read in 1 Timothy 2:1–2 that Paul commanded young Timothy to lead the church to pray for political leaders. Paul said, “I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all those who are in authority.” This warning does not explicitly endorse political action, but it underscores the fact that Christians should be concerned for political leaders and their actions. This concern sets us up for the third reason. The third reason Christians should vote and be involved in politics is Jesus’s command to love our neighbors. Loving neighbors includes many things, and one of those things is creating a world where people are safe, can flourish, and have the liberty to hear and respond to the gospel of Christ. Sometimes, people ask me if Christians can have a position on issues such as gun rights and health care. I don’t know if we can really have an official, Bible-endorsed and specific Christian POSITION on these issues, but we can and must certainly have a Christian CONCERN about these issues. The Lord has put us (Americans) in a country and in a time where we have the freedom and opportunity to influence our government. What an incredible privilege that most people in history could not have imagined! I believe it is a Christian’s responsibility and obligation to use this
